Garth Ennis: Where to Start

Garth Ennis writes with anger at hollow heroism and with tenderness for ordinary men caught in violence. That double slope makes the first read a tricky choice: a reader who opens The Boys unprepared sees a gratuitous pamphlet, whereas Born or Preacher first show what this writer does best, namely brutal friendships and sacrifices that actually cost something.

As always in this guide, only verified information (creators, issues, dates) is stated as fact; the analysis is our own, with no reproduction of protected pages or dialogue.

Why Ennis needs a reading order

Garth Ennis, a Northern Irish writer who came up through the British weekly 2000 AD, has put one name on series of very different natures: London horror, a metaphysical western, war stories, superhero satire. The common threads are few but clear: a black humor that serves tragedy, male duos built on loyalty, a distrust of superhumans and a constant admiration for soldiers and for people who keep their word.

This guide is not a biography, and no article on this site traces Ennis's entire career: we rank reads. The criterion is the effort required. A story closed in four issues comes before a sixty-six-issue saga, which comes before a sixty-issue series inherited from another character, and the most shocking material comes last, once the reader already knows whether this voice suits them.

A second, more practical criterion is access. Ennis's titles have changed publisher over time, from an adult imprint at DC to Marvel, then to independent publishers. The collected editions are therefore scattered, but most of the steps below can be read without hunting down single issues.

Step 1: Punisher: Born (2003)

Four issues, drawn by Darick Robertson, published under the Marvel Knights imprint. Born tells the story of Frank Castle in Vietnam, before he becomes the Punisher. The story focuses on a soldier whom war is in the process of transforming, not on a vigilante who is already formed.

It is the best way in for three reasons. The story is closed, it requires no knowledge of Marvel, and it shows the principle Ennis applies to everything that follows: violence is a state of mind before it is a spectacle. It is aimed at the curious reader who does not yet know whether they want Punisher, a war novel or both.

To read it, the collected edition is enough, since the four single issues have no hidden continuity. For Born's place in the character's saga, our ranking of the best Punisher arcs suggests what to read next.

Step 2: Hellblazer, "Dangerous Habits" (1991)

Ennis takes over Hellblazer at #41, with William Simpson on art, and opens the run with the "Dangerous Habits" arc, which goes through #46. John Constantine, a London magician with no real power, learns there that he has lung cancer and looks for a way out by setting the masters of hell against one another. The arc has a beginning, a middle and an end: you can read these six issues without ever having opened another single issue of the series.

Ennis's run then continues through #83, with Steve Dillon on art for a large share of the issues. We rank it in detail in our guide to the best Hellblazer runs, so we do not go through it arc by arc here. The useful point here is the order: reading "Dangerous Habits" after Born means moving from the story of a man of war to the story of a man who bluffs, and seeing how much Ennis writes in the same way characters who have nothing in common.

This step suits the reader who likes adult fantasy and the city of London, and who can stand a very British humor. To read it, the DC collected editions follow the publication order. If you collect, the guide to the key Constantine issues places the milestones of the series.

Step 3: Preacher (1995-2000)

Sixty-six issues, a stable team: Garth Ennis on script, Steve Dillon on art, Glenn Fabry on the painted covers. Jesse Custer, a Texan preacher whom the entity Genesis has chosen against his will, crosses the United States with Tulip O'Hare and the Irish vampire Cassidy, searching for a God who has deserted his post. Along the way they meet Arseface, the Saint of Killers and the Grail organization.

It is the writer's key work, and the moment when the reader knows whether to follow further. It is longer than the two previous steps, but it stays closed: the series ends at #66 and has no numbered relaunch and no parallel season. It is aimed at those who like road stories, sharp dialogue and openly assumed religious provocations.

To read it, the collected editions are the normal route, starting with the one that gathers the first seven issues, "Gone to Texas". For single issues, the first issue from 1995 is the subject of our guide to Preacher #1, which details editions and buying pitfalls. The four-issue miniseries devoted to the Saint of Killers (1996) is read after the end of the saga, never before.

Step 4: Punisher MAX (2004-2008)

After a first stretch under the Marvel Knights imprint in the early 2000s, more tongue-in-cheek, with Steve Dillon, Ennis writes sixty issues of Punisher MAX, without the self-censorship code. The art passes notably through Lewis Larosa, Leandro Fernandez and Goran Parlov. The arcs follow one another like short novels: "In the Beginning", "Kitchen Irish", "The Slavers", "Barracuda", "Valley Forge, Valley Forge". An aging Castle becomes the figure of a world that does not change.

This step requires putting up with raw violence. It suits those who liked Born and want more: more supporting characters, antagonists who look like real people, a long enough run for one arc to set up the next. We do not redo the ranking of the character's runs here, which our guide to the best Punisher runs develops.

To read it, the collected editions reprint the arcs in order. To collect, issue #1 of the series is the only serious entry point; the later ones circulate without any particular tension. Take the arcs one by one: the run is made to be read in several sittings, not in one.

Step 5: the war stories

Here Ennis writes what the writer loves most, and what the adaptations have relayed least. Three groups stand out. War Stories, published at Vertigo in the early 2000s, gathers short stories drawn by several artists, including Dave Gibbons. Battlefields, at Dynamite from 2008, opens with "The Night Witches", drawn by Russ Braun, about Soviet airwomen of the Second World War. Fury: My War Gone By, at Marvel with Goran Parlov, follows Nick Fury from war to war in the MAX line.

This step calls for a reader already won over to the writer: there is less humor, more silences, and a conviction that changes sides, from the criticism of commanders to the tribute paid to the rank and file. It is aimed at those who enjoy the war novel as much as the comic, and who found a baseline story in Born.

To read it, Battlefields and Fury are best taken in collected editions, since the arcs are independent and can be read in any order after the first. This is the time to branch out: if one story speaks to you, go back to Hitman (1996-2001, sixty issues, art by John McCrea), Ennis's other long series, covered by our guide to the key Hitman issues.

Step 6: The Boys (2006-2012) and Crossed

The Boys, with Darick Robertson, runs seventy-two issues. The first six come out at Wildstorm, which drops the series; the continuation and the ending are published by Dynamite. A clandestine team, led by Billy Butcher, keeps watch on superheroes that the Vought-American corporation manufactures and exploits. The Prime Video TV series, dating from 2019, made this title the writer's best known, but it deliberately departs from the source, as our comparison The Boys versus the comics explains.

We place it last for a simple reason: the comic is the writer's most provocative, and its provocation is not always explained by the story. Crossed, published by Avatar from 2008, with Jacen Burrows on the first arc, pushes even further into horror, and we recommend it only to those who already know Ennis well and know what to expect from the writer.

To read The Boys, the collected editions in publication order are preferable: the series is long, the story unfolds over its whole run, and the provocations weigh less when read continuously. Keep the TV series at a distance: having seen it first skews the reading of the source more than it helps.

How to read: single issues or collected editions

For most steps, the collected edition wins. Born, Battlefields, Fury and War Stories have no sought-after single issue, and the Punisher MAX arcs, like those of Hellblazer, read in one sitting in a volume. Single issues make sense in two places: the first issue of Preacher in 1995, which opens a series that finishes with no ambiguity of numbering, and the first issue of Hellblazer under Ennis, #41, which marks the start of a recognized period.

If you hesitate, go by stages. Read in collected form first, then buy the single issue of a work you have reread at least once. This method avoids buying in an old copy a series that, once read, will not have convinced you. For France, the publishers of the volumes have changed depending on the title: check the publisher, the date and the number of issues reprinted before buying, because the contents do not always overlap from one edition to another.

For a more coherent collection, group by series rather than by creator: a complete Preacher shelf, a Punisher shelf, a Hellblazer shelf. Ennis's name links these sets without confusing them.

Recap: the recommended order

Here is the path in order, from the shortest to the most demanding.

• Step 1: Punisher: Born (2003), four issues, to get in with no prerequisites.
• Step 2: Hellblazer #41 to #46 (1991), a closed arc to discover the fantasy side.
• Step 3: Preacher (1995-2000), sixty-six issues, the central work.
• Step 4: Punisher MAX (2004-2008), sixty issues by Ennis, for those who want the long version.
• Step 5: War Stories, Battlefields, Fury: My War Gone By, for the war side.
• Step 6: The Boys (2006-2012) then Crossed, reserved for the seasoned reader.

If you were to keep only one sequence, take Born, "Dangerous Habits" and the first Preacher collection: three reads that complement each other without overlapping and say enough about the writer's voice to decide what comes next.

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